Do eBikes belong on the mountain?

[Mamil]

I was drooling over treks new ecalibre this morning. A smaller battery and battery and motor come out to turn it into a 14kg ordinary bike if you so desire. 

 I want one. And by the time I get to 60yrs old which is when I've told myself I can have one the tech will be even better.

Of course it is 120k and it comes with very entry level components but .... That's for another thread.

[LazyTrailRider]

On 4/8/2022 at 1:18 PM, Mamil said:

Of course it is 120k and it comes with very entry level components but .... That's for another thread.

Yeah, my Levo SL Comp Carbon comes with NX and a Fox 34 Rhythm (which in itself is actually pretty good but it's obviously not a Factory) for R145k. Not the greatest value...

[Headshot]

"Broped" is now a name for an eBike according to a Singletracks commentator. 🙂

How does it feel bros? 

[Headshot]

Can't vouch for the accuracy of this article but it makes sense - https://intermountainbikes.com/do-e-bikes-damage-trails/

Basically it says yes, but its pretty much identical to normal bikes. 

[thebob]

I'd love an Orbea Rise personally. Not a full power e-Bike, but with more than enough gas to smash laps out at Wolwekloof

[The Ouzo]

1 hour ago, Headshot said:

Can't vouch for the accuracy of this article but it makes sense - https://intermountainbikes.com/do-e-bikes-damage-trails/

Basically it says yes, but its pretty much identical to normal bikes. 

I didnt get very far into that article. It was painful to read, reads like someone that had a minimum word count quota to meet 

[BaGearA]

On 4/8/2022 at 3:18 AM, Mamil said:

I was drooling over treks new ecalibre this morning. A smaller battery and battery and motor come out to turn it into a 14kg ordinary bike if you so desire. 

 I want one. And by the time I get to 60yrs old which is when I've told myself I can have one the tech will be even better.

Of course it is 120k and it comes with very entry level components but .... That's for another thread.

just drop the battery ( 1min max ) the motor is zero resistance so even just switching it off while riding turns it into A heavier normal bike.

 

Very weird the first you ride one but takes about 5mins to get used to.

 

The fazua system is also down on power and battery life so there is A trade up 

[Hairy]

E-bike riders take note, and do not charge your bike when you are not around or if you are asleep.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/e-bike-battery-fire-destroys-florida-bike-shop.html

[aquaratza]

Any cheap lithium battery that lacks reasonable protective circuitry is a fire hazard. It doesn't matter what it powers. FUD

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/mobile/officials-say-mobile-phones-to-blame-for-two-house-fires-in-one-week-1.2376982

Edited April 21, 2022 by aquaratza

[Headshot]

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/falling-batteries-and-risk-of-fire-leads-to-santa-cruz-recall-of-2022-heckler-emtbs.html

 

So you're not damaging trails more than a normal bike, except where your eBike catches fire and burns down the mountain 🙂 

[The Ouzo]

3 minutes ago, Headshot said:

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/falling-batteries-and-risk-of-fire-leads-to-santa-cruz-recall-of-2022-heckler-emtbs.html

 

So you're not damaging trails more than a normal bike, except where your eBike catches fire and burns down the mountain 🙂 

they need to make bigger CO2 bombs for e-bikes, with a fire extinguisher head.  

[Headshot]

1 minute ago, ouzo said:

they need to make bigger CO2 bombs for e-bikes, with a fire extinguisher head.  

Thats funny, but quite likely, given the cycle industries' obsession with gadgets and ripping consumers a new one.

[aquaratza]

Such jealousy

[ChrisF]

2 hours ago, Headshot said:

Thats funny, but quite likely, given the cycle industries' obsession with gadgets and ripping consumers a new one.

 

The truly sad part of this .... NOTHING extinguishes a Lithium battery fire !

 

It is a very real problem for fire engineers, with no answer in sight .....

 

 

 

O .... wait .... how dare I post facts on a Friday .... I will go sit in the corner.

[Fred van Vlaanderen]

Even I'll ride an e-bike if I can ride this... 😍

https://bikenetwork.co.za/patrick-morewood-new-pyga-emtb-interview/?fbclid=IwAR18YtgXDcR4adC2EWOMYqPZQLBp-hnEWLeLYr4ktlMMFIjdFg_CDsiA1O8

[Fred van Vlaanderen]

Not to unnecessarily start a debate again on this, but I did Berg & Bush over the weekend (first time) and wanted to give my perspective on the ebikes encountered on the route.

Firstly, what an amazing race. Enjoyed the route, the organisation, the race village set-up, etc. Secondly, it's the most ebikes I've seen in one place. Having read the comments on this thread beforehand, I was very attentive to behaviour of all the people on ebikes. I can honestly say that I did not encounter one issue with a single person on an ebike. The closest to any sort of incident came as I was ascending spioenkop. I was snaking (using all the road) up the climb in an attempt to make the gradient more bearable. A fellow on an ebike came past me, but he had the patience to wait until I was off to one side and passed on the other, so he did not impede me at all. 

I was worried about less skilled ebikers ascending fast and descending slow, but I was never held up by a person on an ebike. It needs to be said that we did make an attempt to time the descents so as to not be held up.